IMAGINE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does imagine mean? 

• IMAGINE (verb)
  The verb IMAGINE has 2 senses:

1. form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case

2. expect, believe, or suppose

  Familiarity information: IMAGINE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMAGINE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they imagine    ... he / she / it imagines   
Past simple: imagined   
Past participle: imagined   
-ing form: imagining   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

conceive of; envisage; ideate; imagine

Context example:

Can you conceive of him as the president?

Hypernyms (to "imagine" is one way to...):

create by mental act; create mentally (create mentally and abstractly rather than with one's hands)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "imagine"):

envision; fancy; figure; image; picture; project; see; visualise; visualize (imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind)

visualise; visualize (form a mental picture of something that is invisible or abstract)

envision; foresee (picture to oneself; imagine possible)

fantasise; fantasize (portray in the mind)

prefigure (imagine or consider beforehand)

think (imagine or visualize)

fantasise; fantasize; fantasy (indulge in fantasies)

daydream; dream; stargaze; woolgather (have a daydream; indulge in a fantasy)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

imagination (the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses)

imagination (the ability to form mental images of things or events)

imaginative ((used of persons or artifacts) marked by independence and creativity in thought or action)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Expect, believe, or suppose

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

guess; imagine; opine; reckon; suppose; think

Context example:

I guess she is angry at me for standing her up

Hypernyms (to "imagine" is one way to...):

anticipate; expect (regard something as probable or likely)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "imagine"):

suspect (hold in suspicion; believe to be guilty)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They imagine that there was a traffic accident

 Context examples 

Imagine so salty a phrase on the lips of the Humphrey Van Weyden of a few months gone!

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“This is indeed a mystery,” I remarked. “What do you imagine that it means?”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Indeed I have! I came upon the amiable creature—if you'll imagine my feelings, Miss Trotwood and David—in the act of making his will.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Our correspondent naïvely says that even Ellen Terry could not be so winningly attractive as some of these grubby-faced little children pretend—and even imagine themselves—to be.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

But you can imagine how surprised I was, Mr. Holmes, when, on my return on the Monday, I saw the same man on the same stretch of road.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Could I have imagined when I entered that hall that I was about to pledge myself to a wilder adventure than had ever come to me in my dreams?

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He had imagined himself indifferent, when he had only been angry; and he had been unjust to her merits, because he had been a sufferer from them.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Thither I repaired, glad at least to go downstairs; for that brought me, I imagined, nearer to Mr. Rochester's presence.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Any young girl can imagine Amy's state of mind when she 'took the stage' that night, leaning on Laurie's arm.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Before, I had only imagined the wretchedness of my desolated home; the reality came on me as a new, and a not less terrible, disaster.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)